EP3 - AI's Boom and Bust: The Golden Age and the AI Winters

Today, AI feels inevitable, but its history is a volatile cycle of euphoric booms and crushing busts. We explore the "Golden Years" of boundless optimism—from reasoning robots like Shakey to the illusory language of SHRDLU—and the "AI Winters" where funding vanished and progress stalled. Understanding this history is essential for building real AI literacy, as it reveals why the field evolved as it did and provides crucial context for the revolution we are living through today.